MUMBAI: It’s the season of the Bachchan’s and here’s adding another one to the fray.
NDTV Profit announced a new show called ‘NextGEN’ to be hosted by Shweta Nanda, daughter of Amitabh Bachchan, who by her own admission was happy “playing a mother until NDTV Profit came up with this interesting concept”.
Starting Tuesday 8:30 pm NextGen, an interview based show will air as part of a 12 episode series. The interview series will focus on guests from diverse fields like art, literature, sports, films, fashion and business.
Speaking to the media on the need for a celebrity based interview show on a business channel NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak said, “This is a show about Gen X’s aspiration, philosophy, ambitions and a vision to success. We, at NDTV, think that Shweta understands this generation best since she is a part of it and will be more comfortable talking to the guests and vice versa.The idea is to also provide programming beyond business and corporate world.”
The channel plans to air 12 episodes before it takes a break on the show. “Depending on the audience response we will extend it. NextGen on NDTV Profit is an effort to present diverse views of young Indians across several fields and not just restricting it to the world of business”, said NDTV Profit executive editor Shivnath Thukral.
NextGen is sponsored by Life Insurance Corporation of India. Says LIC head of corporate communications Poonam Bodra, “Although we had no specific person in mind as an anchor for the show, Shweta fits the bill perfectly. LIC wanted to be associated with a show that would focus on the youth and their thought processes.” Although she declined to comment further on the issue, she did acknowledge that this was part of the initiative to shift the image of LIC from the older generation to being more youth oriented.
Asked if she would ever consider having brother Abhishek and his fiancé Aishwarya Rai on the show as they are both role models for the youth, Shweta said, “They are family so bringing them on the show as guests would be a conflict of interest.”
Tag: Bachchan
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Shweta Nanda nee Bachchan to host NDTV Profit show
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Bachchan to announce IIFA Weekend at House of Commons
MUMBAI: On Wednesday 8 November, the House of Commons will play host to the official announcement of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend and the IDEA IIFA Awards in Yorkshire in June 2007.
IIFA’s Brand Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan will be speaking at the reception alongside dignitaries, including Secretary of State, Tessa Jowell, Leader of the House, Jack Straw, and the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Kamlesh Sharma, to celebrate the return of the IIFA Weekend to the UK, informs an official release.
As the leading location for investment in Europe, dignitaries will be speaking about the economic benefit for both national and regional business partnerships with India. One of the key members of the Indian delegation is Sanjeev Aga, president of Birla Nuevo, one of India’s leading investors in Britain. Additionally, Judith Donovan, chairperson for the Yorkshire Tourism Board and Tom Riordan from Yorkshire Forward will be announcing details of IIFA Weekend and the anticipated impact for Yorkshire business and tourism, the release adds.
Speaking about the launch of the Idea IIFA Awards, Idea Cellular MD Sanjeev Aga says, “After the phenomenal success of the Idea IIFA Awards in Dubai, Idea is eagerly looking forward to the Idea IIFA Awards in Yorkshire. IIFA offers us the best platform to demonstrate the true essence of mobile and entertainment convergence. With IDEA IIFA, our privileged customer will have access to specially created merchandise, contests, video and MMS downloads and several other value added services. Only Idea can and will take you there.”
Bachchan, who was voted BBC’s Superstar of the Millennium in 2000 pushing behind Hollywood’s biggest stars and heartthrobs, will focus on the rising popularity of Indian cinema as a major global business, with an estimated global audience for the IIFA Awards in 2007 of over 480 million.
Now in its eighth year, the IIFA Weekend has previously visited Amsterdam, Dubai, Singapore, London, Malaysia and South Africa. As a direct consequence of the IIFA celebrations, tourism and business investment to each of these destinations has increased tremendously, making a major impact. Yorkshire was successful in its bid to attract the event organizers attention and the bid presentation was supported by prime minister Tony Blair.
The House of Commons launch event will be followed by a five-city launch the next day in the company of the Mayors of York, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford, who will flag off the IIFA Weekend announcement along with Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. The five-city launch will be held at the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (NMPFT), Bradford.
Previous IIFA Weekend events have hosted popular celebrities including Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Shekhar Kapur, Ashok Amritraj, Jean Claude Van Damme, Bo Derek, Aishwarya Rai, Shah Rukh Khan and others. IIFA Weekend celebrations, which were launched at the Millennium Dome in 2000, have travelled across South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Amsterdam and Dubai. IIFA Weekend Yorkshire marks the return of the celebration which has already become one of the world’s most-watched and sought after event.
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Bachchan felicitates South star Chiranjeevi in Zee Telugu event
MUMBAI: Amitabh Bachchan was the star attraction at the Gachchibowli Stadium in Hyderabad on 23 April at an event which was organised by the Telugu Film Industry to honour megastar Chiranjeevi on receiving the Padma Bhushan.
The star-studded event was interspersed with songs and dances from the megastar’s films presented by Saakshi Sivananda and Reema Sen.
The heroines paired with Chiranjeevi starting from Sridevi, Jaya Prada, Radhika, Jaya Sudha, Rambha, Radha, Reshmi Roy, Shobhana, Saakshi Sivanand to Shriya attended the event amongst directors, producers and other co-stars.
Zee Telugu will be airing the event on 7 May at 9 am.